Portable automatic fire-escape



No Model.)

J. H. BRYAN. PORTABLE AUTOMATIG FIRE ESCAPE.

Patented Aug. 24, 1897.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. BRYAN, OF HUTCHINSON, KANSAS.

PORTABLE AUTOMATIC Fl RE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 588,894, dated August 24, 1897.

Application filed March 1 6, 189 '7.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES H. BRYAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at'Hutchinson, in the county of Reno and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Automatic Fire-Escapes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to automatic portable fire-escapes, and the object is to provide a simple, effective, and reliable device of this kind for automatically lowering one or more persons in safety to the ground.-

To this end the novelty consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of the same, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims. In the accompanying drawings the samereference-characters indicate the same parts of the invention.

Figure 1 is a front elevation. Fig. 2 is a detail of the brake mechanism, and Fig. 3 is a detail of the ratchet-retaining device.

1 representsa rectangular frame in which is journaled the shaft 2. 3 3 represent coiled springs having their inner ends fixed to said shaft so as to rotate with it and their outer ends secured to the frame. 1 4 represent gear-wheels fixed on said shaft and meshing with smaller gear-wheels 5 5 on a parallel counter-shaft 6, also journaled in the frame.

7 7 represent gear-wheels fixed on the shaft 6 and meshing with corresponding wheels 8 8 on the brake-shaft 9.

One end of a flexible wire rope or cable-10 is fixed to the shaft 6, around which it is coiled, and its free end is then passed one turn around the brake-shaft 9, and its depending end is provided with a snap-hook 12, from which is. suspended a light wire cage or basket 13.

14; represents a friction brake-wheel fixed on the shaft 6, and 15 represents the brakestrap which encompasses said wheel 14, its free ends being secured to the lever 16 on opposite sides of its fulcrum-point, as shown in Fig. 2.

' 17 represents a rod pivoted at its upper end to the outer end of the lever 16, and from the Serial No. 627,741. (n5 model.)

lower end of said rod a flexible cord 18 extends to the cage.

19 represents a ratchet-wheel, also fixed on the shaft 6, and 20 is a bell-crank lever, the shorter arm 21 of which forms a pawl to engage the teeth on the ratchet-wheel. The longer arm 22 of said lever terminates in an eye 23, from which a cord 24: extends to the cage.

The frame 1 is provided with grapplinghooks 25 25, by means of which it may be temporarily secured direct to any suitable part of the building, or ropes or chains may be provided to attach it to any convenient article of furniture or fixture in the room.

The flexible rope 10 is wound on the shaft 6 to draw the cage close up to the frame, and the cage is held in this position by the pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel. A person stepping in the cage or basket then pulls on the ratchet-lever rope 2 1, which releases the shaft 6 and throws the weight on the shafts 9 and 6, causing them to rotate as the weight descends, and at the same time winds up the springs 3 3. After the person has reached the ground and steps out the basket being relieved of its weight is returned to the frame by the action of the springs 3 3 uncoiling and rotating the shaft 6 to wind the rope 10 on said shaft and draw the cage up for the reception of another person.

By referring to Fig.1 the brake action of the rope 10 on the shaft 9 will be fully understood, as it will be seen that the rope 10 travels around the shaft in a direction contrary to that in which the shaft is revolving, thereby forming a very eifective automatic brake, the operation of which permits a helpless person to descend in safety.

26 represents a gong fixed on the frame, and 27 represents the hammer-lever, the innerend of which is formed with a forked escapement 28, which is operated by a star-Wheel fixed onthe shaft 6, which causes the gong to ring continuously when the cage or basket is going up or down. 7

When an emergency requires several persons to occupy the cage or basket at thesame time, any one'of them can control the descent by the proper manipulation of the brake-rope 18.

Although I have specifically described the construction and relative arrangeinentof the several elements of my invention, I do not desire to be confined to the same, as such changes or modifications may be made as clearly fall within the scope of my invention Without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A portable automatic fire-escape, comprising the frame 1, the parallel shafts 2, 6 and 9, jonrnaled in said frame, the springs 3 3 fixed on said shaft and having their outer ends secured to the frame, the gear-wheels 4 l fixed on said shaft, the gear-wheels 5 5 and '7 7 fixed on the shaft 6, the former Wheels meshing with the gears 4. 4 on the shaft 2 and the latter with corresponding gear-wheels S 8 0n the shaft 9, in combination with the cable 10 having its upper end fixed to and passing several times around the shaft 6 and its depending end encompassing the shaft 9 and provided with the snap-hook 12, and the cage or basket 13 detachably secured to said hook, substantially as shown and described.

2. A portable automatic fire-escape comprising the frame 1, the parallel shafts journaled therein, a series of gear-Wheels fixed on said shafts, a rope secured to one of said JAMES H. BRYAN.

\Vitnesses:

W. W. PAYNE, C. R. EATON. 

